The Flash 4.22 Review – “Think Fast”

“Wow, how could the second to last episode of a season have so many moments that feel like filler?” was the thought that came to mind while watching “Think Fast.” Season Four of The Flash has been building to this. Big things do happen – we get to see DeVoe unleash his array of powers on an unfortunate bunch of A.R.G.U.S. soldiers. At times, the episode does feel like an end of the world scenario with the appropriate tension. Sadly, the writing can’t seem to stay away from comedy, as there’s extended “funny” scenes throughput the first half of the episode. It’s a shame, because when the main plot is at the focus, it’s compelling stuff.

Not too long ago, Arrow aired an episode titled “The Dragon.” It was unique in that it focused almost solely on the season’s antagonist, Ricardo Diaz. Oliver Queen only appeared at the end. It was a brilliant episode, cementing Diaz as a compelling antagonist, while also taking a break from how Arrow normally runs. The Flash should have taken this approach with “Think Fast” The opening is fantastic, featuring DeVoe storming an A.R.G.U.S. base. The build-up is great, as Diggle arrives. But there’s something suspicious, and as the viewer catches on, DeVoe reveals himself as masquerading as Diggle. What follows is a well done sequence. Everything works, from the dialogue to the music. The music in particular helps to elevate the sequence to one of a poetic nature. DeVoe sees himself as perfect. He has deluded himself into thinking emotion, especially love, is irrelevant. Neil Sandilands delivers perhaps his performance as the antagonist yet. Later, his dialogue with Barry on his ultimate goal for humanity is engaging.

That’s why the episode should have gone “The Dragon” route. After the compelling opening, we return to our cast of heroes for some shenanigans. Harry has clearly lost a lot of his intelligence. Instead of this being a compelling plot point, the writing can’t resist comedic scenes – like him running into the same chair twice. If that wasn’t bad enough, how about the Cecile subplot? So, Cecile is getting close to having a baby. Her telepathy powers out of nowhere goes out of whack. In essence, she becomes other people in her mind. The “gnarly” delivery dude? She starts imitating his “gnarly” dialogue. She does the same with Caitlin and Joe. These scenes go on and on for no real reason. How could the writing have forced comedy like this now? It’s baffling what the writing considers funny.

Early in the episode, Barry brings in Diggle for a fun scene. It was good seeing Diggle, but it ended up being more of a cameo. (Prepare to be disappointed if you were hoping to see Diggle fight alongside team Flash.) A major plot point is Barry training Caitlin and Cisco to work in Flashtime. These training sequences come off as slow – it almost feels like the writing couldn’t think of anything, so it’s just trying to pad out the runtime. At the very least, this does lead to a compelling argument between Barry and Cisco. Barry doesn’t want to end up sacrificing his two best friends, while Cisco says they have to help. Speaking of Caitlin, she was mostly good here. But, the episode spends too much time with Caitlin talking to the therapist near the beginning.

One of the best parts of “Think Fast” is seeing Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin working together at the A.R.G.U.S. base near the climax. Interestingly, these three haven’t really teamed up together on the field in awhile. The dialogue is great, and the three work so well together. Hopefully, we’ll see more of that in the next season. Meanwhile, Iris and Harry discuss finding Marlize. Harry thinks Marlize may want to help them, while Iris disagrees. Iris makes a decent point, showing her wound from being stabbed by Marlize’s katana. Eventually, the two locate Marlize in England. What follows is an engaging sequence. We don’t know the ultimate outcome, but one can assume that Marlize will help them. We will know next week.
On a couple of last notes, there is an intriguing development for Caitlin. After Cisco vibes her, they are taken to one of Caitlin’s old memories. Killer Frost is there, signifying that she has always been part of Caitlin – even before the Particle Accelerator exploded. That doesn’t make sense, but that’s the point: we don’t know what to expect from this development going forward. Of course, the ultimate cliffhanger is DeVoe using S.T.A.R. Labs’ own satellite to launch the Enlightenment. That is definitely a solid way to build anticipation for the final episode.

Overall, “Think Fast” is a mixed bag. There are somethings to like. The DeVoe scenes are of 5-star quality. Although it’s unlikely that any antagonist will match Season One’s Eobard Thawne, DeVoe has proven to be almost as compelling. Sadly, this episode relies too much on unfunny comedy. It’s frustrating, because the episode could be great, but the comedy drags it down. Hopefully the season finale is devoid of forced humor.

6.0

The final score: reviewAverage

The 411

Forced humor ruins what could have been a great penultimate episode. Still, there are things to like. The DeVoe scenes are excellent, and there's some good dialogue between the team. We'll see if the season can at least end on a high note.